Secret Identities: yea or nay? (+poll)

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Do you enjoy writing/reading about characters who have secret identities?

• Yes
• No

Show results

This is mostly just outta curiosity...I feel like it's one of those common plot devices that people love or hate, even though there's nothing particularly wrong with it as a concept.

Like yeah, you'll probably need a secret identity if you want to fight against antagonists who would readily target your home and family if given a chance. And for younger protags, it's probably easier to keep your secrets and get the job done than to have an hours-long conversation with your parents where you basically ask permission to save the world.

But then...it CAN get annoying when there are more episodes/chapters about the struggles of "keeping the secret" than there are about using the secret for its intended purpose. And oftentimes there's someone in Protag's life- a trusted friend or a mentor, who would gladly keep their secret and help lie for them- that they could honestly just TELL and make their life 100x easier but they won't because they 'don't want to be a burden' or some other contrived reason. If you've come across a lot of stories like that in your life, I can understand the hate. ^^;

[darthmongoose]

I think the idea of secret identities is a very appealing one. On some level I think a lot of us like to think "ha! Those people out there see a shy, ordinary person, they take me for granted, but really they underestimate how awesome and strong I am!" I think for anyone who was bullied in school, it may have been a fantasy that gives a lot of strength. It certainly was for me.

Of course, from a logical perspective, a secret identity in our modern society would be really, really hard to keep. The secret services of any developed country would probably have you sussed within days if you kept regularly returning to the same house, workplace or school and doing superhero stuff around the same city.

In a writing context, I sometimes find secret identities more tiresome than anything else. It puts a lot of strain on the character's family and loved ones in a way that after it's been done once becomes repetitive and annoying. I think that stories where those close to the protagonist know about the double life, but other people don't, helps alleviate this while keeping the core fantasy of "if only those bullies and teachers knew I'm actually a member of a superhero team!" It's really either that or severely limiting how much the family are involved, because there's really only so much "Whaaat, we got into trouble and Peter ran away again and also Spider-man turned up just as he left!?" Anyone over the age of eight can stand.

[azzy-m]

I'm gonna be real with y'all: not really.

The whole concept of secret identities, while I don't mind read/watching/writing it, is very, very formulaic. It's boring! Gonna bring up MLB again because I can, I understand why Ladybug and Chat Noir have to keep their identities a secret from each other, but like... is there really a reason to keep most of the other heroes' identities a secret from him, except for Queen Bee, Ryuko, Bunnix, Viperion, and Multimouse? Even then, this is because they either intentionally or accidentally reveal their identities to Chat. Why is Chat never entrusted with a miraculous to deliver to another (other than Queen Bee in Heroes Day)? Why is it that when only Chat and nobody else sees the identity of a hero, that person never gets to be a hero again (case in point Multimouse even if that entire thing is an illusion)?

Damn. Now I'm salty we never and will never get that scene where Chat/Adrien actually visits Master Fu.

Anyway that show really has to do something different to make me entertained.

tl;dr secret identity stories aren't terrible, just that the vast majority of them have already been done one way or another

[yansusu]

To be honest, I also love reading about those episodes where people have to try hard to keep that secret identity and make up some bullshit for that. In fact, I might like that more than the thing they actually do with their secret identity

As an author, I do think I have something like a secret identity in my main series? It's not one of those super hero-things though, more like someone taking on another identity for the sake of a mission because their real identity wouldn't work out. They don't have to try very hard to keep it secret since nobody suspects a thing until quite a ways in and in the end, their real identity has some perks so even when someone eventually finds out it isn't too much of a problem and actually gains them a helper.

[Sirell]

This is actually one of my favourite tropes! It might be cliché at this point, but I always enjoy seeing a character (preferably the mc) hiding their super cool/interesting secret identities, while others think they are plain and boring... if there's a revelation in the end, it's even better! I guess it really depends on the readers' personal wishes after all, people who have been repressed in their lives might relate more.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I don't mind secret identities except when there's no explained reason for there to be a secret (Precure) or the secret identity is just the main character with a new shirt on.
If the latter is done for parody, like the Crimson Chin, it's cool, but in PPGZ, all they did was get another change of clothes. It's even worse in the English dub when their names are always Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

[Klaustasya]

I'm a huge fan of Miraculous Ladybug and the love square dynamics, so YES, i love secret identities more than anything in this world

[Iris-Grimoire]

I like secret identities when they don't eclipse the plot. It's really fun when it's one or more sequences where the character needs to keep secret and then it's mostly background... Not so much when episodes are repeatedly the same problem with little change. My favorite one is where it CAN be revealed at some point in the story, and to the character's surprise, either everyone knew and kept the ruse so they'd not feel bad, or no one actually cared - without feeling pointless, of course, and cutting to immediate consequences of your enemies knowing who you are is also a deliciously painful twist.

[xabelmind]

I love that story too

But as with all the series in my life, I loose interest as seasons go on. Now I not even have a TV, so...

Gotta say in the last episodes I've seen, I only kept thinking about the rounds they must have had to give like: "Okay, so we have Ladybug here, and put Adrien in this place, so they're near but Adrien's identity is not discovered, but there's Luca that... blahblahblah... and the bad guy is up in the... blahblahblahblah -imaginary chess board with the characters, doesn't get anything about the actual episode-"

There's a point where you loose the North of the story and just go with the riddle of the secret identities.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I'm with you 100%. I get that characters need their identities hidden, but if it's not done well then I see no point in keeping their identities a secret.

Especially in the case of Marinette/Ladybug. It's so obvious from a physical appearance perspective that it's disheartening that no one has realized. I hope when the major reveal does happen, instead surprise there is a collective: "Oh yeah. . . actually that makes a lot of sense."

Yea. I wish there were more Adrien and Fu moments too but I guess it was never meant to be.

[yansusu]

Actually, I always thought that the physical aspects aren't that important since, well, there are lots of people that look similar and - if we stay with MLB - they could be anyone from Paris. But it got kind of ridiculous with all those other 'coincidences' being around as well: Like, Ladybug is somehow always there when something happens even if it's a trip the class goes on and then when everyone else's identity is revealed ... Isn't it a little strange that they're all from the same circle of friends (and even the accumatized people are often someone from their families)? How likely is it that Ladybug is not cquainted with them at this point? smh

[azzy-m]

Yea, I feel like you can make a case for people not recognizing Chat Noir, although it's a very flimsy case (literally the only difference between Adrien and Chat is the fact that Chat has a different hair style and has green sclera, despite being a famous model and has had countless tv and internet appearances, my suspension of disbelief goes really far)

But there is absolutely no way that not one single person recognizes that Ladybug is Marinette. But I think it's more like a play on the classic magical girl trope where despite little changes in their appearance no one recognizes them, and while frustrating, I won't mind too much. It just becomes a problem when you compare everyone else's hero designs to Chat and LB, because most ot the other heroes you can't tell who they are under the mask (Rena Rouge, Carapace, Mayura, Hawk Moth, and freaking Lady Noire)

Anyway, at least LB needs a redesign like good lord

[IndigoShirtProd]

I wish the writers would finally give us an excuse at to why. They don't disguise their voices which is why Alya was able to figure out who carapace was as soon as she came into contact with him. I can understand the magical girl trope; to an extent it makes sense. But multiple other things have been explained about the lore of the miraculous but this is the one thing that hasn't been. When you have an episode that literally places Marinette and Ladybug right next to each other, it just draws more attention to how ridiculous the premise is.

[Maps]

I sort of have a weird secret identity in mine? My character doesn’t have any of these underlying strengths that he keeps hidden from people, but he finds out that he is not who he thought he was. It’s revealed to him that his parents had changed all their identities while he was a baby and fled their past country. So he realizes that he doesn’t really know who his parents truly were.
But I do love a secret identity trope. Kinda keeps you on edge watching them trying to live with and keep their true identity a secret.

[ratique]

I have a somewhat secret identity with my main character and I don't enjoy writing it. It limits me drastically, but is necessary for the goal of my first season.

I'll definitely not repeat it in future stories.

[Klaustasya]

Yes, Miraculous in particular sometimes looks like it gets worse as every season goes on, but i still like it a lot and i'm kinda curious about how the producers are going to develop the characters ^^

[azzy-m]

Yea same, actually. The first two seasons are definitely the best, but I still thoroughly enjoy the 3rd season. I'm really curious about season 4, but mostly I just want to see Juleka wielding what is most likely going to be the tiger miraculous, because it looks badass.

Now it'd be even MORE ENJOYABLE if they air the episodes in the RIGHT FUCKING ORDER I'M-